Pardon or Plate: Students write essays in the voice of turkeys

Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 05:40 PM.

Shelby Middle School AIG students had to write persuasive essays to save their life.

But there was one catch: students were writing in the voice of a turkey.

“We are working on persuasive writing and students assumed the voice of the turkey to plea for their life,” said AIG teacher, Lauree Hayden. “We started off learning about the Annual Turkey Pardoning by the President and watched a clip of last year’s President Obama pardoning a turkey.”

Students had to persuade their classmates, and students decided if their peers received a pardon or ended up on a Thanksgiving plate.

Writing techniques students had to use included using emotional appeal or providing counter arguments, Hayden said.

“Some of their reasons were a riot. Some said they had families, offered up siblings to be eaten, that they thought other turkeys would taste better,” Hayden said. “One student even used current events and said they couldn’t be eaten, because they could have E. coli.”

About a third of the students ended up as Thanksgiving dinner for not using convincing persuasive techniques, and also because of their teasing friends.

Shelby Middle School AIG students had to write persuasive essays to save their life.

But there was one catch: students were writing in the voice of a turkey.

“We are working on persuasive writing and students assumed the voice of the turkey to plea for their life,” said AIG teacher, Lauree Hayden. “We started off learning about the Annual Turkey Pardoning by the President and watched a clip of last year’s President Obama pardoning a turkey.”

Students had to persuade their classmates, and students decided if their peers received a pardon or ended up on a Thanksgiving plate.

Writing techniques students had to use included using emotional appeal or providing counter arguments, Hayden said.

“Some of their reasons were a riot. Some said they had families, offered up siblings to be eaten, that they thought other turkeys would taste better,” Hayden said. “One student even used current events and said they couldn’t be eaten, because they could have E. coli.”

About a third of the students ended up as Thanksgiving dinner for not using convincing persuasive techniques, and also because of their teasing friends.

Students in the class were in seventh and eighth grades.

“It was a good way to wrap up the week right before Thanksgiving,” Hayden said.